It seems the city of Denver is more excited about an unproven young quarterback than somebody who has established himself to be their legitimate starter.

Every day, Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton hums passes across the team’s practice fields with a precision he’s never quite had before. His receivers marvel that he is so accurate they don’t have to break stride or reach to catch the ball. They say he is as good as they have seen him. One, Brandon Lloyd, says the ball “just sticks in your hands.”

If the Broncos can escape mediocrity in the 2010 NFL football season, Orton will probably be a major reason why. And yet the better he looks, the more the fans who visit training camp refuse to care. They don’t shout his name. They don’t wear his jersey. And when practice ends nobody screams or begs for him, or even shows him a whit of loyalty.

Such is life in the summer of Tim Tebow, where the third-string quarterback is the most popular man on the field. “It’s been an interesting summer,” Orton says with a small laugh. He then waves his hand dismissively.

“I don’t care about the glare at all,” Orton elaborates. “Listen, I live to play football. I don’t want to be anything other than a football player in regards to all the fanfare. I just want to play football.”

It is not an indictment of Tebow that the team’s first-round draft pick is not ready yet for the NFL. He was always going to be a project that would take two or three years before he develops into a starter. But maybe no one understood just how good Orton was about to become. And while it is still only the preseason and…

You read it, there’s dissension within the Cardinals camp.

Quarterbacks Matt Leinart and Derek Anderson know something about the issue more than anyone else in Arizona, especially after last Thursday, when Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt announced that Anderson was replacing Leinart as the starter in Saturday’s preseason game against the Bears in Chicago.

“I don’t think we’ve performed the way we’ve needed to perform on offense in the preseason,” Whisenhunt said after practice at Vanderbilt University. “And we’re just looking at different players at different spots, trying to find a little groove. It’s a great opportunity to look at combinations of different personnel.”

Whisenhunt insisted that Saturday’s game is not a “dress rehearsal” for the 2010 NFL football season, even though his players will be dressed and rehearsing. But the competition at quarterback has obviously tightened, and Whisenhunt is curious about how both players will react in different roles.

Matt Leinart declined any comment until Friday after Whisenhunt announced the decision. Derek Anderson chose not to say much. “I think the last couple weeks have been good, and I just want to keep building on that,” he said.

There are other changes in the starting lineup. Greg Toler will replace Trumaine McBride at left cornerback. Rookie Daryl Washington will start at inside linebacker for Pago Togafau, and other reserves, such as guard Deuce Lutui, could get some time with the starting units.

But those are honky-tonk acts compared with the…

Are you ready for the big game?

In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints will collide this Sunday in Miami, Florida where we’ll see which of these two teams will be crowned the Super Bowl XLIV champions.

Who will take the big one? Let’s look at the Indianapolis Colts, who have already recorded their most single-season wins in franchise history with 16. The quest will be a second Super Bowl title in a four-year span and since they’ll be playing in their fourth Super Bowl appearance in Miami, it seems the stage is set for the Colts to win their second Super Bowl title.

You see the last time Peyton Manning and his Colts were in Miami playing for the Super Bowl, they defeated the Chicago Bears 20-17. Manning was also the league MVP that season, the same as he is now coming to Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida.

That’s why the Colts should take this one easy.

Sure, the New Orleans Saints are as good as the Colts this season with both teams flirting with perfection all year to post the best win-loss record of their respective conferences. Both the Colts and the Saints also have Pro Bowl quarterbacks in Peyton Manning and Drew Brees respectively. That’s probably why Super Bowl XLIV will prove to be a high scoring affair.

However, while Drew Brees have become one of the most explosive quarterbacks to…

Well, these guys already played for FOUR Super Bowl titles in Miami, winning two with the last one against the Bears three years ago.

To say that the Indianapolis Colts will have some sort of homecourt advantage in Super Bowl XLIV is a HUGE understatement. The New Orleans Saints may have the emotional drive going for them but when it comes to playing for the Super Bowl, in Miami, it seems you just can’t go wrong with the Colts.

And in case you didn’t get that, yes, the 16-2 Indianapolis Colts, who won their second AFC championship in four seasons, will play the 15-3 New Orleans Saints for the Super Bowl at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Miami, of course, is old hat for the Colts. All four of their Super Bowl appearances, including their two wins, have taken place in South Florida. And it seems kinda’ strange that the Colts found a way to return to the Super Bowl to play the New Orleans Saints at the same time the league decided to return to Miami for the big game.

The Colts advanced to their fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, their second of the Indianapolis era, by rallying from an 11-point first-half deficit against the New York Jets.

Quarterback Peyton Manning was simply phenomenal as he completed…

Isn’t that weird?

The Indianapolis Colts return to Miami, Florida to face the New Orleans Saints for Super Bowl XLIV after beating the New York Jets 30-17. It was just three years ago when the Colts were in Miami for Super Bowl XLI, playing against Rex Grossman and the Chicago Bears. This time, they have Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, who are making their franchise’s very first trip to the big dance.

Isn’t it a little odd that the Indianapolis Colts found a way to return to Miami for another shot at the Super Bowl title the same time the Super Bowl was scheduled to return to Miami? Maybe there’s something about Miami that the Colts like so much.

A return trip to Miami for the Colts wasn’t even looking good during the first two quarters of the 2010 AFC championship game as the New York Jets, up 17-6 with two minutes remaining before halftime, were looking to shock the rest of the world for the third straight week.

Unfortunately for them, Peyton Manning found his groove back during the last two minutes of the first half as the reigning league MVP found Austin Collie in the endzone with 1:13 remaining to cut into the Jets’ lead, 17-13.

THAT was the momentum shifter of the game, so to speak, and the New York Jets never got back into the game in the second half.

Peyton Manning found Pierre Garcon for a four-yard TD pass to…

Why are we asking? Because the last few trips the Ravens made to the NFC North, they haven’t been good ones.

The Baltimore Ravens have struggled when facing teams from the NFC North, especially playing against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. And since that’s where these Ravens are going to be this Sunday when we conclude Week 13 of the 2009 NFL football season, the Ravens know exactly what they have to deal with at Lambeau.

”You know what comes with Lambeau Field,” Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said. ”You know the history behind it.” However, it seems the Ravens have had their problems with other NFC North stadiums as well. In the 14 years that the Ravens have been in the NFL, they have never EVER won in Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota or Detroit, losing all of the six games the Ravens have played in those stadiums.

And since they have a young Aaron Rodgers who just went for three touchdowns and 348 yards to lead the Green Bay Packers pound the Lions last week on Thanksgiving, I’m definitely not liking the Ravens’ chances this Monday.

To say that the Baltimore Ravens hate playing in the NFC North could be an understatement.

You see, the Ravens have always been humiliated every single time they make the trip north. They lost to the Lions in a penalty-filled game once. They also let then Bears running back James Allen look like Walter Payton the way he ran the ball against the Ravens defense. They let then Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre rip them apart in Green Bay after a…

This week, we’ll go across the border, in Canada.

Because Week 13 of the 2009 NFL football season will kick off in Toronto where the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills will renew their AFC East rivalry on Thursday Night Football.

That’s right, the Buffalo Bills, trying to reach out to fans across Lake Ontario, is scheduled to play a total of five contests in Toronto, one per season through 2012. Unfortunately, the experiment did not begin well last year, with many in attendance supporting the opposing team in the Bills’ 16-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins on December 7.

On the verge of four straight losing seasons with a 3-7 mark, the Bills gave their home fans reason to smile with a 31-14 win over Miami last Sunday.

After averaging 12.3 points in the previous eight games, Buffalo broke out with 24 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a 51-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Terrell Owens, the second time the duo hooked up for a lengthy score in the last two weeks.

As far as the New York Jets are concerned, rookie Mark Sanchez will look to bounce back on Thursday as he has continued to struggle, tossing only two touchdowns against seven interceptions in the last three games. Sanchez was 13 of 17 for 154 yards and just one interception Sunday, enabling the defense to carry the Jets to a 17-6 victory over Carolina to snap a three-game losing streak.

Will that be enough to beat the Bills? We’re giving…

We have a good one for you this week.

Everybody knows that the intensity of the 2009 NFL football season picks up after Thanksgiving and the games we have for you this weekend proves why.

First, we have MVP candidate Brett Favre and the rest of the Minnesota Vikings playing hosts to the Chicago Bears. The Vikings are on a three-game winning streak and since the Bears virtually don’t have anything going for them at this point of the season, this game gives the Vikes the perfect opportunity to extend that streak to four straight wins.

Since the Minnesota Vikings welcomed Brett Favre in mid-August, the team has gone to great lengths. The Vikings are averaging more than 30 points per game, they have the consensus top running back in the league in Adrian Peterson and the future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who is playing better at 40 than he ever has.

On the defensive end, the Vikings are no.3 against the run, allowing just 85.5 yards per game with defensive end Jared Allen ranking second in the NFL with 10.5 sacks.

As for the Chicago Bears, they are on a streak of their own, a losing one. While the Vikings have won three in a row, the Bears have lost three in a row. Jay Cutler and the rest of the Bears have also lost five of their last six games, definitely not something you want to be in the middle of at this point of the season.

In the past 30 days, the Chicago Bears have been lit up by…

Three straight losses.

That’s exactly what the Chicago Bears are dealing with after 11 weeks into the 2009 NFL football season.

After all the hype generated by the Chicago Bears with their acquisition of big shot quarterback Jay Cutler from Denver, especially after he led the Bears to that huge win over the defending champions Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week 2, Cutler is slowly losing the Windy City the way he lost Denver.

In case you’ve not been following Bears’ games lately, Jay Cutler is starting to have a knack for throwing interceptions in games. And mind you, Cutler makes a lot of ‘em, probably more than any quarterback in this league.

Last Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles wasn’t any different. After giving up FIVE FREAKING INTERCEPTIONS to the San Francisco 49ers the week before, Jay Cutler gave up another one to the Eagles secondary on Sunday Night Football as he finished with a rather miserable 63.2 QB rating en route to yet another frustrating loss.

But perhaps what’s even more frustrating for Bears fans last Sunday night was the way Cutler has been missing his receivers downfield.

The Philadelphia Eagles provided Jay Cutler with all kinds of opportunities to burn them with huge plays downfield, the problem is, Cutler just can’t seem to get the ball to his wide receivers all night long as he was either a couple of yards short or a couple of inches long.

Cutler was suppose to be the missing piece the Bears needed to…

Jay Cutler likes playing in the dark.

That’s what they are saying anyway. They say the Chicago Bears quarterback is a nocturnal creature and prefers nighttime like a freaking vampire. However, if that was true, then how come he has been on the losing end of the three night games the Bears played this 2009 NFL football season?

Believe it or not, Jay Cutler loves evening games, For some reason, he even told his coaches that he prefers night games and late afternoon games as compared to noon starts. Unfortunately, their night games haven’t equated to wins yet.

In the three night games the Chicago Bears played, all three were losses. Jay Cutler, who loves these night games so much, threw 65 percent of his interceptions during the night, making us think that this guy is probably more comfortable after dark with booze than handling footballs.

That is certainly bad news for the Chicago Bears since they are scheduled to be in yet another evening game for Sunday Night Football. To make matters worse, Jay Cutler, who throws majority of his interceptions at night, will face one of the best secondary in the league today, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unlike Donovan McNabb who can put a lot of points on the scoreboard…